TRAINING RECAP #15 AS OF JUNE 16, 2019

Training recap #15 covers two weeks from June 2 to June 16, 2019. During the previous training session #14, I ran 48 miles on 10 days.

Training Period #15 Goals

Continue building the foundation for endurance, strength and speed. As I’m increasing both training volume and intensity, and with warmer weather increasing physiological stress, I will focus even more on staying healthy with strength and mobility workouts, sleep, nutrition, and hydration. Remember running is not a sport, it’s a lifestyle!

Week 1: 30 Mile Week!!!

The week started off with a bang with my first race in many, many years (I wrote about the experience, and what the milestone on my journey means to me, here). I approached the race in the Waveny Summer XC series more like a progression tempo run, and followed with 4x 200 meters with 200 meters jog on the track. The race went well, and although the 23:03 result was solid, I was most happy with the progression (splits 7:49, 7:10, 7:03).

On Wednesday, I ran a 3-mile recovery run in Waveny Park, followed by another easy 4 miles with strides in the park on Thursday.

For Friday, I planned a challenging hill repeat workout, but I felt tired from Tuesday’s XC race and 200’s, and postponed the hill workout to Saturday. I ran another easy 3 miles on Friday evening.

I was pumped for the workout on Saturday, and probably ran the 3-mile warmup on the Waveny trails a little too fast in the heat. Time was 23:20. 3 weeks earlier, I ran 4x 300 meter hills with 300 meter jog back to the bottom. Today, I crushed the workout running 7x 300 and lowered my average split! I showered, stretched and crashed in bed for a couple of hours.

I paid the piper on Sunday. A week ago, I ran the 8-mile Sunday long run in sub-8 minute pace. Today, the motivation and confidence was high, but the body wouldn’t cooperate. After 4 miles, I stopped and walked 1/2 mile back to the car. Realizing that once again I would fall short of my 30-mile goal this week, I became frustrated and reset mentally. I ran another 4 miles for a combined 8 miles. Not pretty, but goal accomplished.

Week 2: Switching Things Up

I reflected on last week, and concluded that Tuesday’s Waveny XC race and 200’s, combined with Saturday’s hill repeats, and 2 strength and mobility workouts during the week, was probably too much if I wanted to have something left in the tank for Sunday’s long run. Given the importance of the long run, I had to switch things up this week.

I also reminisced about past Waveny XC races, and pulled up old running logs from 5-10 years ago, only to realize that I ran a lot faster back then. To race faster, I have to train faster.

I intentionally skipped this week’s Waveny XC race. Instead, I warmed up with an 8-minute mile on the Waveny trails, and transitioned into a 1-mile tempo at 6:30 pace (equivalent to about 6:15 on the roads or track), and then cooled down with another 8-minute mile. Fatigued from the fast mile, I ran 5x 200 meters on the track in about 38 seconds (close to 5-minute mile pace), with 200 meter jog in between reps.

Tuesday’s workout was fun, and a confidence booster that I carried into Wednesday’s workout. I ran 4 miles in 30:22 (7:35 mile pace) on Wednesday, closing again in 7:03 for the final mile. If it hadn’t been for “gastrointestinal” problems (too much coffee!), I could’ve let it rip that last mile.

Thursday was a planned day off with a company dinner in New York City, which set me up for the track workout on Friday. The goal was 5x 1000 meters with a 3 minute walking recovery, which I ran 6 weeks ago in about 4:20, and 3 weeks ago failed to complete (ran 2 sets 1000 / 400 instead). This Friday, I ran 3x 1000 in 4:08, 4:09 and 4:05, and although I could’ve done one more, I was stoked with the improvement from 3 weeks ago, and focused on Sunday’s long run.

Checking the weather forecast for the weekend, I realized Sunday would be a rainy day, and maybe better to go long on Saturday. With Sunday being Father’s Day, and about a year since I started my journey through separation, divorce, healing, and rediscovery, it would also likely be an emotional day for me. Right decision, and I ran a solid 8 miles on Saturday in Waveny Park.

On Father’s Day, I ran 5 miles in Waveny Park, including 4x 100 meter strides on grass in 17, 17, 16 and 16 seconds.

Goals Require Consistent Work (Day In, Day Out)

56 miles for the 2-week session. Lots of quality workouts. Really stoked. 60 miles coming up!

Consistent training is the key to achieving one’s running goals (same can be said about the importance of consistency in achieving whatever one’s goals may be).

I’ve been able to increase mileage volume 50% (from 20 miles to 30 miles per week) over the past 9 weeks, since a negative MRI confirmed that I did not suffer another metatarsal stress reaction. Concurrently, I’ve added tempo and progression runs, anaerobic threshold workouts, and speed development workouts. And my strength and mobility workouts are showing gains.

To recap, I ran 48 out of 54 planned days (90%), and of the 6 days I missed only 2 were related to potential injuries (knee discomfort, and took couple days off). The other missed days were work or weather-related.